Aug-01-11
 | | plang: 8..Nb4 is the most popular line though Rozentalis' 8..Nf6 is occasionally played. 13 a3 seems a little odd as the knight is headed to d5 anyway. Bologan felt that perhaps Rozentalis should have played 16..Qc8 avoiding Bologan's exchange sacrifice 17 Rxe6!. 21..Re8 would have been a better defense though after 22 Ne5..c5 23 Ne4..cxd 24 Nxf6+..Qxf6 25 Ng4 White has good compensation for the exchange. 28..Rae8 would not have helped Black after 29 Qg4..Rxe5 30 Rxe5..Qxe5 31 hxg..Re8 32 gxh..Qxb2 33 Qf5..Nf6 34 Bg5 and White wins. After 33..Qf7? Black was lost; 33..Rfe8 would have held out longer after 34 e6..Rd4 35 Qc2..Rxe6 36 Rxe6..Nxe6 37 Bc3..c5 38 Qe2. |
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| Apr-10-19 | | Nullifidian: 34. ♙e6 wins a piece after 34... ♘xe6 35. ♗xf8 ♕xf8 (♘xe8?? ♕xf7) 36. ♕xe6. If 35... ♖xf8, which is probably the best bet, then 36. ♖xe6. Black will win back a pawn with ♕xf2+, but that's no compensation. If the queen moves, say ♕c7, then ♙e7 forks both rooks. |
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| Apr-10-19 | | Walter Glattke: Option: 36.e6 Qe8 37.Bc3+ Kg8 38.e7+ Rf7 39.exd8Q and Qxd8, so Qxe1 is impossible because of Rd8-check. |
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| Apr-10-19 | | saturn2: 34. e6 Nxe6 35. Ba2 (against eventual Rd1) Rfe8 36. Qg4
looked winning to me. |
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| Apr-10-19 | | greenfield67: Is this even a puzzle? 34.e6, then pick apart Black's disintegrating position... |
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| Apr-10-19 | | Lambda: 34. e6 Nh3+ needs careful consideration. |
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| Apr-10-19 | | stacase: 34.e6 was obvious. After 34...Nxe6 I missed Black's 35...Qxf2+ threat - Duh! So, 35.Bxf8 is best, and Black tips his King over. |
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| Apr-10-19 | | malt: Have 34.e6 N:e6 35.B:f8 R:f8 36.R:e6 Q:f2
37.Kh2
on 34.e6 Nh3+ 35.Kh2 |
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| Apr-10-19 | | TheaN: I was <too> worried about Nh3+ that I decided to trade Queens first. White has a good position after 34.Qxf7 Rxf7 35.e6 ⩲ to ±, but nowhere near decisive. After 34.e6 Nh3+ White simply has to realize that after 35.Kh2 +-, Black is facing too many threats. I do think however that it's the key line, not what Black played. The main defense, getting pieces off, fails after 35....Qf4+ 36.Qxf4, as after NxQ e7, or RxQ Kxh3. |
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| Apr-10-19 | | cormier: 
click for larger viewAnalysis by Houdini 4 d 22 dpa done
1. + / = (0.32): 22...Rfd8 23.Ng4 Rd7 24.Ne4 Nxg4 25.Qxg4 Qf7 26.Nxd6 Rxd6 27.Bxh6 Rf8 28.Qg3 Qxf2+ 29.Qxf2 Rxf2 30.Kxf2 gxh6 31.Re4 Rd5 32.Kf3 h5 33.Bd3 Kf7 34.g4 hxg4+ 35.Rxg4 Rd8 36.Rh4 Ke7 37.Rh7+ Kd6 38.Ke4 Rf8 39.Be2 Rf2 2. + / = (0.46): 22...Qd8 23.Nc4 b5 24.Ne5 Bxe5 25.dxe5 Nd7 26.Rd1 Qh4 27.f4 Rf7 28.Kh2 Nd5 29.Nxd5 cxd5 30.g3 Qd8 31.Bg6 Rf8 32.Bb4 Qb6 33.Bxf8 Rxf8 34.Rc1 b4 35.Kg2 Rb8 36.a4 Nc5 37.Qc2 Rc8 38.b3 a5 39.Bh7+ Kh8 |
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Apr-10-19
 | | agb2002: White has the bishop pair and a pawn for a rook and a knight. Black threatens Qxc4 and Ne6. Nh3+ could be an interesting resource. The natural move is 34.e6:
A) 34... Nxe6 35.Qxe6
A.1) 35... Qxe6 36.Rxe6 looks very good for White. For example, 36... Rd1+ 37.Kh2 Rxf2 (37... Rxb1 38.Bxf8 Rxb2 39.Kg3 + - [B vs 2p]) 38.Bc3+ Kg8 39.Bg6 Rd7 (due to Re7-h7) 40.Bf6, with the threat Re8#, wins decisive material. A.2) 35... Qxf2+ 36.Kh1 Qh4+ (36... Rf6 37.Bc3+ wins) 37.Qh3 and White should win the endgame. A.3) 35... Rde8 36.Qh6+ Kg8 37.Ba2 Rxe1+ (37... Qxa2 38.Qg6+ Kh8 39.Bc3+ and mate in two) 38.Bxe1 Qxa2 39.Qg6+ Kh8 40.Bc3+ Rf6 41.Bxf6#. B) 34... Nh3+ 35.Kh2 (35.gxh3 Qxf2+ perpetual) 35... Qf4+ (due to Bc3+ and e7) 36.Qxf4 Nxf4 37.e7 wins decisive material. C) 34... Qh5 35.Bc3+ Kg8 36.e7+ wins. |
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Apr-10-19
| | agb2002: The text 35.Bxf8 is significantly superior to my 35.Qxe6, which wins according to Stockfish, but surely much more slowly. Interestingly, I saw 35.Bxf8, and if 35... Nxf8 36.Qxf7 wins, but for some reason I got stuck focusing on 35.Qxe6. |
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| Apr-10-19 | | cormier: 
click for larger viewAnalysis by Houdini 4 d 22 dpa done
1. = (0.00): 19...Qd7 20.Ne5 Qc7 21.Nf3 Qd7 22.Ne5 2. = (0.04): 19...Qc8 20.Nxd5 cxd5 21.Rc1 Qd7 22.Ne5 Qd8 23.Re1 Rc8 24.Nd3 Ne4 25.Bxe4 dxe4 26.Qxe4 Bf6 27.Qxe6+ Kh8 28.d5 Qb6 29.Ne5 Bxe5 30.Qxb6 axb6 31.Rxe5 Rfe8 32.Rh5 Kh7 33.d6 Red8 34.Rd5 Rd7 35.Rd3 Rc2 36.Bc3 Kg6 37.Rg3+ Kf5 38.a4 g5 39.Rf3+ Ke6 40.Rf6+ Kd5 41.Rxh6 Rxd6 42.Rh7 |
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| Apr-10-19 | | Cheapo by the Dozen: Nice change-of-pace puzzle. It's mainly about checking whether White can withstand 34 ... Nh3+. And the attack along three different long-ish diagonals in the 35 ... Qxf2 line is pretty. |
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| Apr-10-19 | | Patzer Natmas: I saw the pawn push and the knight take pawn. I thought the black squared bishop would check the king; after further analysis the check would be useless. |
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Apr-10-19
 | | ChessHigherCat: I saw e6 Nxe6 like everybody else, but I thought I was supposed to find a mate so I went for 35. Bc3+ Kg8, at which point I realized the threat of Qxf2+ so I neutralized it and won the exchange with 36. Qxe6 Qxe6 37. Rd1+ Re1, etc. I think it probably wins, too. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 17.Rxe6